It All Comes Down to A Cup of Coffee
by Love my Loony
Summary: Tony gets a headache at the same time as Natasha. The resulting scenario leaves Fury nearly in tears and Tony bouncing like a rubber ball (mainly because he is stuffed with coffee). HPNR T because I'm paranoid.


**I know I have too many stories without really completing any of them, but I keep getting so many ideas, it's a miracle I actually manage to write anything at all.**

 **Toodle-oo!**

Natasha was striding out of Stark Tower, or as he had renamed it, Avengers Tower, when she bumped into Tony himself. He was massaging the bridge of his nose with his hand. "Where are you going?" he asked wearily, his voice lacking its customary jauntiness. "Coffee." She said curtly. Her headache was building. "I'm coming with you." He said. She shrugged. They fell into step, walking in silence along the road with crowds all around pointing and gawking. "Where are we going?" he asked finally. "ReDoubtable's Coffee." She replied. He raised his eyebrows but said nothing.

His jaw dropped when he saw the waiting line outside the café. There was an absolute pileup of vehicles outside the little shop, not helped by the fact that the traffic policemen were also in the line. They stood at the end of the line, at least until a doorman came up to them. "Ms. Romanoff?" he asked. She nodded. "Follow me, please." They followed him through an almost invisible door to a table marked 'Reserved: for Ms. Romanoff.' She and Tony sat down facing each other, and he pointed curiously at the Reserved sign. "Harry keeps a table permanently reserved for me." She explained. Tony narrowed his eyes. Was there a faint blush on her cheeks? "Owner of the shop?" he asked. She shook her head. "Just a worker." Her lip curled with amusement. "He's the one who caused this pileup." He stared at her like she had sprouted tentacles. "You do realize that that many men cannot be gay?" he queried disbelievingly, glancing at the lines outside. This finally drew a chuckle from Natasha. "They're here for his coffee, not him specifically." She explained. "His coffee is widely accepted to be the best in America."

A black clad waiter came up with a tray that carried two cups of coffee and nothing else. He introduced the coffees as he put them on the table. "This" he said. "is an Aspirin." Placing a cup in front of Natasha. "And this" he said proudly, placing a cup in front of Tony. "is a Realizer." He bowed slightly and left. Tony raised his eyebrows but said nothing. It was getting to be quite a habit. "We didn't place an order." Natasha looked at Tony and shook his head. "You really haven't come out of Stark Tower for a long, long time, have you?" she said, exasperated. "You don't place orders when Harry is on duty. It's practically an insult." She took a slight sip of her coffee and let out a long, lingering sigh. "God, that's good." She practically moaned. Tony took a sip of his own coffee and sat bolt upright. Every good and bad thing he had done in his life, back to stealing cookies from the kitchen was weighed out in his mind, and he was found wanting. Incidents long forgotten were dredged up-: a casual dismissal, insults, shoves to random strangers. A single teardrop rolled down his cheek as he slumped back in his seat. Tentatively, he took another sip and nearly cried for joy when it told him he could still redeem himself.

Slowly a voice penetrated his consciousness. "Tony." It said. It sounded concerned. "Tony?" It was Natasha. "Are you alright?" He slowly opened his eyes. "Are you alright?" she repeated. His face split into a wide grin. "I want to meet this barista." He said.

Ten minutes, when they had finished their coffee, they walked together slowly towards the glassed off area. "Tony." Natasha pleaded. "I know you want to hire Harry, but for heaven's sake, be nice." She said almost desperately. "Harry won't be impressed by your riches- he regularly meets with the Queen of England! Please, pleeeeaaaase be polite." Tony's jaw dropped for the second time that day. Natasha was begging! He shook his head. "All right." He managed at length.

They knocked on the door that said, "Entry prohibited". Another black-clad waiter opened the door and on seeing Natasha, opened the door further allowing them to come in. "Regular customer?" Tony whispered in her ear. "A little over a year." She whispered back. She pushed open another frosted-glass door to reveal a man of about twenty-five. He had startlingly green eyes and messy shoulder-length black hair. His pale, angular face broke into a wide grin when he saw Natasha. "Ms. Romanoff." He said mischievously, kissing the tips of the fingers of her outstretched hand. There was definitely a blush on her cheeks. He turned to Tony. "And Mr. Stark." He said courteously. "An honor." He said, shaking hands with him. Tony laughed. "Please, call me Tony. Mr. Stark is my father." Harry smiled, but it looked a little forced. "Harry, then." He agreed. He turned back to Natasha. "How can I help a beauty like you, now?" Another blush. "Tony has an offer for you." He turned to him and raised his eyebrows. Tony suddenly had a difficulty in speaking. "Erm- I was actually kind of wondering, if you would, maybe, come and, erm, work for me.' He gabbled. Harry's eyebrow's rose higher. "Work for you…privately?" he asked. Tony nodded, not trusting his voice. Harry shook his head. "I'm afraid that's impossible." He said apologetically. "I cannot deny the world my genius. And now, your bill." He handed Tony a small slip of paper. Tony just withdrew his credit card and was preparing to hand it over, when Natasha interrupted. "Pass me the bill a second, will you, Tony." She stared at it for a long time. She cleared her throat. "Amount: $95.0. Discount: 100%. Net Amount: $0.0." She looked up at Harry, who was looking slightly guilty. "Well?" she asked. He was saved from having to answer when _yet another_ black-clad waiter scurried up to them with a pale face.

"There's someone who says you know his order." He said, obviously struck fearful by the man. Tony briefly wondered whether Nick Fury had come into the shop. "Who would it be?" asked Harry, not at all perturbed by the waiter's behavior. He was now shaking like a leaf in a gale. "Loki." He whispered. Harry immediately busied himself making coffee. It was like watching a cyclone rip apart a town. He talked to himself as he worked. "Two walnuts, three spoons coffee, one plunger milk." He muttered as he worked furiously. One and a half minutes later, he walked out of the kitchen, motioning to Natasha to follow him. He walked to a table where Loki was sitting by himself in the middle of a clearing, the other patrons giving him a wide berth. "You coming yourself to bring me my coffee, Harry?" he said smoothly. "I'm honored." Harry placed the coffee in front of him and shrugged. "Actually, I came to make sure you weren't killing any of my customers, like the _last time you came_." He said pointedly. "But whatever helps you sleep at night." Loki pouted. "I thought you would have gotten over that." He whined. Tony blinked. Loki _whining?_ "I only killed two of them." Harry rolled his eyes. "That was because I drop-kicked you into the Mediterranean before you could do any more damage." He countered. Loki sniffed theatrically. "I thought you loved your cousin." Tony blinked again. _Cousin?_ "Oh I do." Muttered Harry. "That's the only reason you're still alive." He glanced back, remembering his two guests. "Oh, Natasha, Tony, this is my cousin, Loki. Loki, this is Natasha and Tony, more commonly known as Black Widow and Iron Man. I believe you've met?" he queried. Natasha glared at Loki. "Met," she said. "is a strong word." Tony drew Harry to the side. "If you can't work for me," he said in a low voice. "Every evening, can you send six coffees?" Harry smiled. "Done." He said. He handed Tony a card. "That's my card. If you ever need me, just call." He looked at the number and raised his eyebrows. "That's a long number." He said. He looked up and saw Harry had already left, the clock striking three and the crowd outside groaning in disappointment and dispersing.

o0o0o0o

Natasha and Tony walked side-by-side contentedly. Tony opened the conversation. "So, you and Harry? I thought you were with Clint," he asked, smirking. Natasha managed to keep herself from blushing. "He isn't my boyfriend!" she defended, though she wasn't able to keep a note of longing out of her voice. It wasn't obvious-nothing ever was with Natasha – but Tony was better at reading people than many of them gave him credit for. "And besides." She added. "Clint's gay." Tony felt a smirk growing on his face. "If you tell that to Bruce." He decided. "He'll either cut up Barton's brain, or ask him on a date." Natasha gave a rare chuckle.

When they reached home – if a fifty-foot tall tower could be called a mere 'home'- the other Avengers were surprised to see Natasha and Tony talking quite amiably.

o0o0o0o

That evening, as they were discussing how best to defend themselves from threats like Ultron, JARVIS interrupted them. "A delivery man has come downstairs who claims to be from ReDoubtable's Coffee. Am I to let him in?" the AI asked. Tony frowned. " _Claims_ to be?" he asked suspiciously. The AI sounded almost embarrassed. "I have as yet been unable to hack into their database." It admitted. "The first time I tried, I was lucky to be able to come back at all." Tony considered. "All right, let him in." He ordered. "I doubt Harry would want to harm us." Thor looked up sharply. "You met Hadrian?" he asked curiously. Tony nodded absentmindedly, still trying how Harry-for who else could it be-had managed to do even what even SHIELD had not been able to and block JARVIS.

A courier shuffled diffindently into the room, clearly overawed by the great personalities surrounding him. He set down the rather large box on the table and nearly ran out, much to the amusement of everyone in the room.

Tony opened the box and read the note that lay on top.

 _Each coffee in this box is unique and will not e found anywhere else in the world. They have been customized to each member of the Avengers and the person for whom it is intended is written in icing on top of the coffee. The name of the drink is written at the bottom of the cup. Also, tell JARVIS that if he tries to hack the server again, I will make sure that the only thing he can say is 'The quick red fox jumped over the lazy brown dog.'_

Steve was the first one to take a cup. He tentatively took a sip of the white and brown coffee and immediately relaxed, a blissful expression on his face. "It tastes…comforting… and strong, and protective." He said, at loss for words. "Like a mother?" guessed Bruce. Steve shook his head. "More like…a guardian." He said softly. "It reminds me of something…" He drained his cup and stared at the bottom of the cup. There, in permanent marker, was written the name of the coffee -: 'The Stars and Stripes.' The whole room was plunged into silence. "I'm guessing that's what it reminded you of." Said Natasha. "Who made this?" asked Steve.

Natasha was next. She took a long draught from her cup and shivered as if she had been dunked in ice. She took another sip, and was filled with a warmth as if a fire had been lit inside her, thawing her out and warming her body. At the bottom of the cup was written, 'Fire and Ice'.

Thor took the next cup. He stared at his name written in brown frosting, 'Thor Odin son'. The coffee was a milky, frothy white. It looked remarkably mild, but having met Hadrian before, Thor doubted it was. Loki may have been Wildfire and the Crooked One, but it was his cousin who was called the Trickster. He took an almost scared sip and immediately sat bolt upright, one hand tearing chunks out of Tony's glass-topped table, the other gripping the cup tight enough that his knuckles went white. He stared at the bottom of the cup. 'Thunder'. Tony's lips twitched.

"I have a question." Said Clint. "Why has the cup not broken yet?" Natasha shrugged.

"It's a Harry thing."

When Bruce drank from his cup, one of his eyes went green and a peace he had not known since he first became the Hulk came over him. His drink was called 'Acceptance'.

When Clint drank from his cup, he recognized how much the Avengers valued him, how much they _needed_ him. His cup was called 'Sixth Wheel'.

Tony stared at his cup for a long time, wondering what new concoction Harry had prepared for him. Taking a deep breath, he drained the whole cup in one go. He opened his eyes to see strands of light connecting everyone like a giant 3D family tree. Every single person was directly connected to him.

His cup was called, 'Family'.

o0o0o0o

Harry answered after two rings. "Hello, Tony." He greeted. "How were the drinks?" Unconsciously, Tony's eyes lit up at the memory of those drinks. "Are you sure you won't work for me?" he asked enviously. "I'll build you a tower and pay you as much as you want." Harry laughed. "No offence, Tony, but even if neither I nor my children worked, my grandchildren would still be richer than you." He replied. "Now, why was it you called me?" Tony smiled. "I was wondering if-" he was interrupted by Harry. "If I would send you two extra coffees for Fury and Coulson. Yes I will."

"…"

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that."

"Did you hack SHIELD?"

"Without JARVIS, too."

"And by the way, he says he's taken it as a challenge."

"I suggest you restrain him."

o0o0o0o

When Tony had finished explaining how you drank the coffee, Nick's eyebrows had moved halfway up his bald scalp. Tony opened both the cups and handed Pierce his, staring at Nicolas' like it had come from Mars. "Its not addressed to Nick Fury." He said finally, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. "It's addressed to 'Fury, Nicholas J.' " he said, doing a passable imitation of Fury when he initiated any sequence with that password. Fury glared at it in disgust and threw back the coffee like it was a shot of vodka. He froze, then started jittering like someone was coursing electricity through him. When he had finally settled down enough to read the bottom, he looked like he was doing his best to crumple the cup. As with Thor, he failed. Tony leaned over and read the cup. He immediately broke into gales of laughter, tears streaming down his face. "It's called, 'Director Override'." He said amid bouts of laughter, while Fury looked murderous. Just when Tony had finally calmed down, Pierce spoke up. "Mine is called, 'Fanboy'." He said, puzzled. Tony split his sides laughing.

While Tony was laughing his head off, Fury talked quietly with Natasha in a corner. "Who made this coffee?" he asked quietly. "A man called Harry." She said. Fury froze. "Harry…Potter?" he asked almost nervously. "Yes." She said curiously "Why?"

He moved to the center of the room. "I suppose I better come to the reason I came here in the first place." The room fell silent. "I came here with bad news, but now I have some good news as well." Here he paused. "At least," he continued. "I _think_ its good news."

Less than a mile away in his house, Hadrian James Potter shivered for no apparent reason. "Some uncouth lout just trampled all over my grave." He murmured, and continued catching a rat for his basilisk.

His instincts kept prickling though, and he listened to them. They had never let him down before.

 **Nice lovely chapter, plenty of fluff and decently long.**

 **For those of you who didn't get the 'fanboy' reference, it refers to Pierce's obsession with Captain America. And yes, I know he's dead, but I couldn't help giving him a very minor role. He won't turn up much more now.**

 **To make me happy, press the little button called 'review'.**


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